Pathfinder Pawns: Bestiary Box

The brutal beasts of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary come alive on your tabletop with this box-busting collection of more than 300 creature pawns for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or any tabletop fantasy RPG!

Printed on sturdy cardstock, each pawn contains a beautiful full-color image of a nasty monster from the core Pathfinder RPG monster reference. Each cardstock pawn slots into a size-appropriate plastic base, making them easy to mix with traditional metal or plastic miniatures. With multiple pawns for commonly encountered creatures and more than 250 distinct creature images, the Bestiary Box is the best way to ensure you've got the right creatures to push your Pathfinder campaign to the next level!

ISBN 978-1-60125-561-7

Bestiary Box Set List

Hundreds of monsters surge to life on your tabletop! Each has its own identification number for easy sorting. The Bestiary Box includes:

Average product rating:

Pretty Much Perfect

I'm finding it hard to figure out what to say when reviewing the Pathfinder pawn boxes. The product details are listed on the back of the packaging, so for the Bestiary Box you'll know you're getting 256 different creature pawns, with some of them coming in multiples for a final count of over 300. The pawns are thick, sturdy cardboard and have held up well through months and years of play. They slot neatly into little round plastic bases, and the box comes with 21 small/medium bases, 10 large bases, and 5 huge ones. Although there might be an omission here or there (I haven't cross-checked), almost every creature that appears in the Bestiary will have a corresponding pawn in this set. The only consistent exceptions are any creatures larger than Huge, as Paizo has refused to come out with any pawns that big. The artwork is full-colour and (usually) matches the creature pictures in the book, the pawns are titled and numbered to match the list on the back of the box for easy sorting, and there are little set indicators so you don't get the pawns from this box mixed up with pawns from other boxes. If I had any criticisms of the Bestiary Box specifically, it's that it's not always intuitive why they chose some creatures to have multiple pawns and others to only have one: for example, there are two "Bralani Azatas" (I'm not exactly sure what that is), but only one Shadow and only one Wraith, etc. Still, quibbles aside, this is an excellent set, and having these pawns sure beats checkers, coins, random minis ("Gandalf is the hyena"), and the various other things GMs sometimes have to put on the table. From one point of view, I can see why it sounds ridiculous to spend $ 44.99 USD on little pieces of cardboard. But . . . somehow it's worth it!

Best Looking Backorder EVER

I will just drool over these, I'd offer a much more honest rating, but I can't buy them, they are permabackordered. Sooo... they're awesome. Looking. I'll just sit here in my sadness without them. Crying softly. Curled in a ball on the shower floor, cold water and tears running down my face and over my nakedness. I will attempt to carry on. I will survive this. Paizo, you're my only hope. Unless I pay 87.00 on amazon.

A Solid Compromise Between Paper Minis and Solid Minis

I decided to pick this up after I ran the introductory adventure from The Beginner Box. I had a lot of fun assembling the pawns from that box and placing them on the map for use during the adventure. I don't have the storage space or the budget to buy plastic or metal miniatures. I also don't have the craft skills to make paper minis. So, for me, pawns fit my requirements for miniature figures. The artwork is cool and they store easily in the Beginner Box or their own box.

Bestiary Box is the Answer to GM's Prayers!

When the clerk at the local game shop told me that the only way I would find a Pathfinder game would be to run one on my own, my mind immediately reeled thinking of the hundreds of miniatures that I would need to properly host a game.

Then I thought about the Pathfinder pawns line and the answer to my problem was in sight! I picked up the Bestiary Box prior to my first session and happily realized that almost every monster that I needed was represented within!

The pawns are sturdy and the artwork is gorgeous. The players really enjoy the added value of seeing the exact creatures they are facing. It makes encounter descriptions a breeze because I just set up the pawns and tell the players "this is what you see"!

You can't beat this selection for the price. Take your game to the next level. This first set is indispensable and will be the only monster box you'll need for a while!

Good but not great.

Ok first of all, these things are gorgeous, the art is amazing and they are of sturdy build. The variety is brilliant allowing for nearly all monsters in the Bestiary Book 1 (although i wish it had more dinosaurs).

My main problem however is that there are not enough repeats of some more 'common' monsters such as zombies, or orcs or goblins etc etc. While this will be fine for some people it wasnt for me and i would have much preferred one more sheet with just some more common weak baddies on it. This issue is also why i rated only 3 stars, just a few more of these guys and it would have been 5 stars.

PS, These things are really REALLY difficult to get hold of for a decent price in the UK.

It would be nice to also have common ones available as mini boxes. Orcs. Gnolls, Goblins, Kobolds, etc. 8 minis are great, but sometimes you might need 12 or even 20, especially if you're using suicidal goblins...

The Bestiary Box is not part of any subscription, but Pathfinder Roleplaying Game subscribers who preorder this boxed set will receive a free PDF edition of this product when the boxed edition ships. (Note that you will need to have an active RPG subscription at the time the Bestiary Box ships in order to receive the PDF for free.)

Also, there's an error in the current image, which shows Small, Medium and Large pawns on square bases that are about 3/4" wide. In the actual product, Small and Medium pawns will have 1"-round bases, Large pawns will have 2"-round bases, and Huge pawns will have 3"-round bases.

I want to say right now that a) this is awesome, and b) if they work out I want to see an ongoing sub of additional monster packs -- maybe themed, maybe AP specific.

Some people are suggesting this might cannibalize your pre-painted minis sales. I think they are wrong. I was *never* going to buy any randomized mini packs -- partly because of the randomized thing, and partly because it is just a pain to drag huge numbers of minis to the game (I GM at my FLGS and at a friend's house). You didn't lose minis sales from me with this product, you gained sales of this product (I might even buy 2 just to make sure I have enough monsters).

I want to say right now that a) this is awesome, and b) if they work out I want to see an ongoing sub of additional monster packs -- maybe themed, maybe AP specific.

Some people are suggesting this might cannibalize your pre-painted minis sales. I think they are wrong. I was *never* going to buy any randomized mini packs -- partly because of the randomized thing, and partly because it is just a pain to drag huge numbers of minis to the game (I GM at my FLGS and at a friend's house). You didn't lose minis sales from me with this product, you gained sales of this product (I might even buy 2 just to make sure I have enough monsters).

Yeah, I think there will be two primary sorts of customers here.

1) Those who weren't interested in the regular minis for much of the above stated reasons. They weren't going to buy the minis to begin with.

2) Those who will buy both, anyway. They use these as their "travel" minis.

I admit that I may encourage players to buy a personal mini for their characters.

3) GMs who will also use pogs, beads, tokens, miniatures, legos, dice and whatever else is on hand, to represent things on a grid map, and thinks that Pawns will make a great addition to his/her collection. :)

Question: will there only be one of each? I understand there's already a TON packed in here, and I'm still going to buy it regardless.

Nonetheless, there are some creatures that are just probably not going to be alone. Regardless of setting, I'm willing to bet that 1 Kobold or 1 Goblin won't be cutting it.
The Beginner's Box will help that a bit (been lovin' it), but there are others.

Also: Dragons. Will there be one for each type and each size, or one per type? If the latter, will they all be the same size, or will you draw the sizes out across the types in order to hit all the bases?

Question: will there only be one of each? I understand there's already a TON packed in here, and I'm still going to buy it regardless.

Nonetheless, there are some creatures that are just probably not going to be alone. Regardless of setting, I'm willing to bet that 1 Kobold or 1 Goblin won't be cutting it.
The Beginner's Box will help that a bit (been lovin' it), but there are others.

Also: Dragons. Will there be one for each type and each size, or one per type? If the latter, will they all be the same size, or will you draw the sizes out across the types in order to hit all the bases?

Without a doubt there is no excuse for me not purchasing whether online or from a store. This already looks to be an amazing product (mainly due to my horrible mini painting skills). Can not wait till this is released!

Also, there's an error in the current image, which shows Small, Medium and Large pawns on square bases that are about 3/4" wide. In the actual product, Small and Medium pawns will have 1"-round bases, Large pawns will have 2"-round bases, and Huge pawns will have 3"-round bases.

We'll try to get the image adjusted accordingly next week.

Will future printings of the beginner box get this same update or are sizes specific to the core rules and won't be part of the basic?

If this set turns out to be as popular as I think it will, perhaps sets for each Adventure Path could be worked on, including the major NPCs and creatures in that path. An all-in-one box for the Adventure Path like the Items cards are.

If this set turns out to be as popular as I think it will, perhaps sets for each Adventure Path could be worked on, including the major NPCs and creatures in that path. An all-in-one box for the Adventure Path like the Items cards are.

I'd probably subscribe to that. However, would you release it at the start (and spoiler the later monsters) or at the end (and miss the folks who play early)?

Also, shipping boxes cost - I'd like this to be a slim envelope with the pawns only as I'll have plenty of bases by that point.

If this set turns out to be as popular as I think it will, perhaps sets for each Adventure Path could be worked on, including the major NPCs and creatures in that path. An all-in-one box for the Adventure Path like the Items cards are.

If this set turns out to be as popular as I think it will, perhaps sets for each Adventure Path could be worked on, including the major NPCs and creatures in that path. An all-in-one box for the Adventure Path like the Items cards are.

If a monster is in the Beginner Box AND the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, there's a good chance there will be crossover. But keep in mind that one of the three sheets in the Beginner Box was all player characters (plus one Large monster), and the BB had stuff like serpentfolk that aren't in the main monster book.

When there's crossover and when we have the opportunity, we may use different art to make it a "different" skeleton, or what have you.

If a monster is in the Beginner Box AND the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, there's a good chance there will be crossover. But keep in mind that one of the three sheets in the Beginner Box was all player characters (plus one Large monster), and the BB had stuff like serpentfolk that aren't in the main monster book.

When there's crossover and when we have the opportunity, we may use different art to make it a "different" skeleton, or what have you.

Yeah, I'm so on-board. Thanks Paizo! Also, will anything be done for facing this time around, like a little dot or something at the bottom of the side that is the front?

The Pathfinder RPG doesn't use facing, so we probably will not do anything elaborate to indicate this. It's very likely that the pawns themselves will have a "front" and a "back" distinguished by which side has the creature's name and which side has the collector number and copyright statement, but all of this is meant to be covered by the base. If it's really important to you, you could simply not push the pawn all the way into the base, so players can read its name and know which way is which. The sample image above actually shows the pawns like this. They still stand up just fine this way.

Question: will there only be one of each? I understand there's already a TON packed in here, and I'm still going to buy it regardless.

Certain very common creatures will get multiple pawns.

Ulmaxes wrote:

Also: Dragons. Will there be one for each type and each size, or one per type? If the latter, will they all be the same size, or will you draw the sizes out across the types in order to hit all the bases?

The current plan is to have one dragon of each type of each size, which means there are a LOAD of dragons in this set.